Will this pass tech? Another cage issue

BTW, this is for the Denver round this coming weekend, so any quick answers would be great

Yeah, you could take that perch that is already welded to the base of your hoop and weld a box underneath it to the floor/firewall/sill, then weld that perch to the top of the box/firewall/sill and you'd be okay.

What they said, no gaps underneath.   Also 3/8" steel is a bit thick to be welding to thin sheet metal.    Attach that plate to the floor, and use another plate at 90 degrees on the rocker panel to stiffen it all up.  The strongest part of the car is the rocker, attach to that whenever you can.   

    It looks as if you're reusing a cage that was in another car, the road to hell(tech failure) is paved with reused cages...   watch it and ask questions.  You can ask me directly if needed

-John

Been there, done that, don't give up! We utterly failed to get our Jag ready for Dallas, so now we're shooting for Omaha - and it looks like we might make it this time! Our cage is our biggest problem also, but our cage builder is planning on coming out and welding it in some time in the next few weeks.

You should have shown up just to see if anyone was short on drivers. Mulry was short in Dallas and a few days before the race he asked if I'd drive on his team - it was a great experience and I learned a lot.

Keep your chin up.

Rob and Erik have already said it, but it needs to be said again. Take Heart! Don't give up! Lemons racing is practically the definition of what you just experienced. Taking an Apocalyptic piece of shit and shoehorning it onto a race track. there are a huge number of cars that run this series that probably shouldn't even be driving on davesfarm, let alone a fully paved and maintained race facility. the race size could be 40 or 140, but chances are your paddock neighbor is just as interested in you running as you are yourself. This is the underlying mission statement for Lemons. It's supposed to bring racing to the common man, and drop that stuffy stigma of other "more professional" race series/organizations that turns away at such plight. So, I understand that it's too late now, but next time you're getting "last-minute wrench-a-thon flu" just keep pounding away at it until it's time to pack it up, then bring whatever you got. You'll be flabbergasted at the amount your resources multiply once you're in the paddock.

Thanks for the encouragement, y'all.

It's just unfortunate that we thought we were following the rules by showing up with a finished product. Trying not to be whiners about this whole thing but the expense both monetarily & physically we endured the past couple weeks would've made even a Navy SEAL whimper a little bit.

Is it even worth asking for any of our fees to be applied toward another race? Or possible late entry into Omaha?

The bitterness in my mouth hasn't gone away yet, so not sure I'd even be up for the 8 hour haul to the other side of the Plains, but I have this turd steaming in my garage now...I should do something with it...

It never hurts to ask, the worst thing they can say is No. But I'd bet that (1) you'll not have a lot of luck getting the fees re-purposed (see your acceptance email that stresses that these are entry fees not guaranteed-to-race fees) and (2) you've probably got a good shot at late entry at Omaha given that first-time tracks in parts of the country that Lemons hasn't run in previously are usually the less-entered events and they probably have some room in the field.

Think of the upside: with a smaller entry field, your finishing position is bound to be higher! Go for it!

So here's what we did as far as the original dilemma posted above:

boxed & braced & tied to rocker

Sorry to be the bearer of possibly bad news, but I think you might have a big problem with that main hoop for starters. It might just be the photos and the angle from which they were taken, but do the main hoop uprights bend back toward the center of the car? By which I mean are the bases of the uprights where they are welded to the floor/frame narrower than the point at which the harness bar is attached? If so, you might have a problem.  As in "won't pass tech" kind of problem.

My suggestion is that you email John @ Evil Genius Racing (he's been the lead tech guy at many/most of the races this year) in case he's not watching this thread and get his opinion about this and also what you can do to make it work/pass tech. Check the main tech thread/sticky for his email address. If you need to fix it, you need to do it now before you get further along. Good luck.

Pat is correct if you are going by the letter of Law, the main hoop should be designed so that it is measured as close to the full width of the car, following the pillar all the way to the floor. Having the bar extend to the full width of the car and then bringing the base or bottom of the cage back towards the center does create additional vertical stress in a roll over. Horizontal bars will reinforce this situation, and eliminate the stress. In my opinion: you already have one horizontal bar going from the top of the main hoop to the floor, continue with an additional horizontal bar the would extend from the center X to the floor on the drivers side. And as always confirm anything we say with the powers that be Lemons. John would definitely be one of those people.

Thanks y'all. I read about all that, too. This was a pre-fab cage from SW Racecars that I bought from another racer. It originally had 3rd & 4th legs coming inboard from the widest part of the main hoop to the floor. We nixed those & added the diagonal. As for the bend in the main hoop, we trusted the roll cage company that builds them for these cars. We can always add bars & gussets, etc to help strengthen, right?